Severing Time & Space

Zhou Lihua's Birthday, Part III

It rested inside a small bed made from many different and vibrantly colored herbs, a beautiful flower with petals that looked to have been crafted from crystal. Each petal glistened as the light from chandeliers struck them.

There were fifteen petals in total, denoting its age. This particular flower gained more petals the older it was. That meant this flower was quite old indeed.

The entire room had grown still as they waited to see what present Wu Jian had bequeathed to her, but Zhou Lihua said nothing for the longest time, making the many people watching begin to whisper.

"What do you suppose he got her?" asked one person to another. He was a man with glimmering silk robes. They were far more extravagant than anything Wu Jian had ever worn in his life.

"Hmph. He's from the Wu Clan, right? They're a small clan from here, so I doubt it was anything good."

"A normal gift for someone of Zhou Lihua's stature is expensive jewelery from the Imperial Capital or alchemy pills. I doubt a small clan like his could afford to give her anything good. It's probably just some cheap trinket."

Wu Jian tried not to pay the whispered words any mind, but they were speaking just loudly enough for him and his group to hear. It was like they wanted him to hear, Like they wanted him to know how little they thought of him.

Hou Jingshu's face was bright red as she listened. She looked like she might leap on those people, but she held herself back admirably.

Finally, Zhou Lihua seemed to remember she needed oxygen to survive. She took a deep breath that sounded more like a gasp.

"This is a sacred lily! And judging from the number of petals it has, it is at least over one thousand years old! These are so rare you could search the whole continent and never find one!" Zhou Lihua looked from the flower to Wu Jian, her eyes wider than he had ever seen them. "Where did you find this?!"

It looks like we managed to surprise her.

Zhou Lihua did not strike him as the kind of woman who surprised easily. Rather, she seemed the sort who enjoyed surprising others.

Wu Jian felt a burst of pride at having put such an expression on this woman's face. She looked rather fetching this way.

I wonder if Mei knew this would happen? Either way, I should make it a point to surprise Zhou Lihua more often.

The commotion caused by her surprised shout reached a fever pitch as everyone tried to crowd around the group while pretending they weren't attempting to sneak a peek at her gift. Even Zhou Zu and the elders were gazing at the flower in shock.

"A sacred lily? Seriously?! How did the Wu Clan find something so rare?!"

"It must have come from the Twin-Fang Mountains, but we've already scoured every li of the surrounding area and found nothing."

"Do you think they traveled further up? To the peak?"

"Don't be absurd. We all know the Twin-Fanged Beast would never allow a human into its territory. Mayhaps they discovered a secret grotto where the sacred lily resides."

"What a splendid gift! Marvelous! It's simply marvelous!"

The conversation around Wu Jian flowed over him like wine. He felt vindicated as the people who once derided him and his gift suddenly did a one-eighty. Standing next to him, Hou Jingshu and Wu Meiying puffed out their chests. They looked like a pair of peacocks preening their feathers.

Now, how should he answer her? Zhou Lihua was gazing at him with an expectant look. He couldn't just refuse to respond. Should he play up how dangerous it was to get that sacred lily? No. He couldn't take most of the credit. He might have found it, but Wu Taohua was the one who acquired it.